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- #421
Just picked up another 9 sheet shredder today at the church thrift shop. Paid only $3.50 for a Fellows P-58Cs 9 sheet crosscut shredder. From what I read online, that model is about 10 years old, but the unit I bought was in excellent condition. At the time, they cost around $100.00. Today, I think you can get an equivalent 9 sheet shredder for about $70.00.
It's got a 22 liter (~6 gallon) bin capacity. I like those large bins. Tried the shredder out once I got it home and it runs like new. So, I hope to get lots of shredding out of it. At $3.50, it would not have to shred very much to pay for itself. A bale of straw goes for about $5.00, and I am sure I will be shredding many bales equivalent of paper shreds with this new (used) machine.
Some of you may be keeping track of how many used shredders I have purchased. Well, I am up to 4 working shredders at home now. I am still shredding lots of paper and light cardboard for my coop deep bedding. My strategy is/was to buy used shredders and run them until they break. All in all, I think I have less than $10 invested in my used shredders that would retail out for about $300.00, or more, if new.
Since I really don't have much money invested in the shredders themselves, I don't cry when I wear them out. I will just replace it with another of my used thrift store shredders and continue on shredding. Best thing yet, the thrift store I have bought these shredders from is a church group and the money we spend there goes to local charities. It's really a win-win for everyone and helps those in need in our community.
As always, I encourage people to consider using paper shreds as coop bedding for their backyard flock. It has really worked out great for me. Plus, I am recycling almost all our paper products at home reducing the amount of garbage being sent to the landfill. All those shreds get composted into the gardens and grows people food for the family. I feel I am doing my small part to keep the planet greener. And you can add that my purchase of chicken equipment (used shredders from the church thrift shop) is helping local charities and those in need in our community.
That's a lot of love coming from just keeping chickens!
It's got a 22 liter (~6 gallon) bin capacity. I like those large bins. Tried the shredder out once I got it home and it runs like new. So, I hope to get lots of shredding out of it. At $3.50, it would not have to shred very much to pay for itself. A bale of straw goes for about $5.00, and I am sure I will be shredding many bales equivalent of paper shreds with this new (used) machine. Some of you may be keeping track of how many used shredders I have purchased. Well, I am up to 4 working shredders at home now. I am still shredding lots of paper and light cardboard for my coop deep bedding. My strategy is/was to buy used shredders and run them until they break. All in all, I think I have less than $10 invested in my used shredders that would retail out for about $300.00, or more, if new.Since I really don't have much money invested in the shredders themselves, I don't cry when I wear them out. I will just replace it with another of my used thrift store shredders and continue on shredding. Best thing yet, the thrift store I have bought these shredders from is a church group and the money we spend there goes to local charities. It's really a win-win for everyone and helps those in need in our community.
As always, I encourage people to consider using paper shreds as coop bedding for their backyard flock. It has really worked out great for me. Plus, I am recycling almost all our paper products at home reducing the amount of garbage being sent to the landfill. All those shreds get composted into the gardens and grows people food for the family. I feel I am doing my small part to keep the planet greener. And you can add that my purchase of chicken equipment (used shredders from the church thrift shop) is helping local charities and those in need in our community.
That's a lot of love coming from just keeping chickens!
Yeah, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. But I do think having chickens has increased my "inner green" and allowed me to think in ways of recycling products that I had not considered before. It just makes so much sense to give chickens the material they need (and enjoy) and in turn they create great compost and give eggs. Since I got my backyard flock, hardly any of my paper products get thrown out to the landfill. I shred almost all our waste paper products. Most of our kitchen scraps are tossed to the chickens daily, which reduces our wet garbage for the dump. What kitchen scraps I can't feed to the chickens gets tossed into a pallet compost bin. None of my organic material (i.e. grass clippings, leaves, branches, etc...) has left my property in years. I can chop it up, or chip it up, and use it with the chickens in one way or another.
I know some people feel they are doing their part for the environment by bringing their used products to the recycle center. I still have to do that with our plastic, glass, and metal, but I have found that I can shred almost all our paper products at home and use the shreds directly with the chickens and later as compost for the garden. I suspect that most of our "recyclable" products actually end up in a landfill or dumped in some third world country. So, I firmly believe in using whatever I can at home for as long as possible before sending it to the recycle center.
